(Motorsports news) The Brackley-based team is banking on an entirely new car design for its 2024 W15 rival in the wake of a losing season for the German manufacturer. Hamilton said, the team and its manager are under increased pressure since Mercedes might make a mistake for the third time in the new ground-effect era.
Hamilton stated that everyone on his team was feeling it ahead of what would be a crucial winter in ensuring the team’s 2024 car is competitive in an interview with a small group of reporters. When asked how much pressure team manager Toto Wolff was under, Hamilton responded, “Definitely a lot.” Not only Toto but everyone on the plant. There was a great deal of strain on everyone at the plant.
In the end, Toto’s bossiness requires you to start relying more on people rather than putting up with them. And it’s not easy to achieve that since everyone breaks after a while. So how can you encourage them to keep going while still being constructive? “I like to think that some of the race results and drives that I’ve been able to put in inspire the guys—like, ‘Oh we’re almost there,’ and that ripples throughout the whole system.”
Hamilton stated that Mercedes lacked a clear development plan and that the company had struggled to find direction with its car during the previous two seasons. “At the start of the year, we didn’t really know where we needed to work toward, or a North Star,” he said. And in trying to frickin’ get to where we need to be, it’s been kind of a zigzag line. Occasionally, something good occurs, and you think, “That’s it.” Then it changes, which is normal because the goalposts are constantly shifting.
However, Hamilton is now much more hopeful as a result of this year’s infrastructure improvements, which included James Allison, the technical director, returning to frontline duties and a modification in the car’s concept. He responded, “Yeah, I think we have a North Star now, which I don’t think we’ve had in two years.” Still, there isn’t a straight path to get there.
“Due to the expense cap and other various factors, there were just some decisions and actions that left you stuck at a dead end with no way out. “Red Bull has done a fantastic job overall, although they had a bouncing problem in Bahrain last year, which they resolved. It’s similar to attempting to construct a wall. Brick after brick, brick after brick, it seemed. Just keep on developing, developing, developing.
They might have made an addition that didn’t improve the performance, but they were still developing. “We had to tear down the wall for ourselves. Last year, we had a car with a lot of aerodynamics, but we had to remove a lot of downforce from it before attempting to add more gradually. However, it got worse every time we attempted to add it. We just didn’t get better for a very long time. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that Red Bull is making progress.
And this is how we’re going he pointed to an almost flat line Then, after some time, it gradually emerges while they are continuing. “That void. All we are doing is following wildly divergent paths. But I believe we now have a far better understanding of the automobile. Great tools that we have developed in the background. Naturally, I’m optimistic. I won’t, however, hold my breath.
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